The plan by Marin County Parks for spending Measure A funds will not shift as much as initially proposed, to the relief of supporters of agriculture. Instead of halving farmland preservation spending, the final spending plan keeps the allocation stable at 20 percent. But that category, renamed “sustainable agriculture,” will be open to a wider array of projects, and only half of it can go toward agricultural conservation easements.
Parks director Max Korten presented the plan to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, calling it a compromise reached after months of public input. He told the Light that it reflects both Marin’s commitment to agricultural preservation and the public’s changing priorities.
“Where we ended up is that the large allocation areas are relatively similar, with some important differences,” he said. “It still retains the intent to pivot from being focused on just preservation to being more focused on stewardship.”
Supervisors won’t vote to place the renewed measure on the ballot until next week, but their questions on Tuesday were focused only on wording and finer details. Most public speakers voiced support for the plan, including representatives from the Marin Agricultural Land Trust and the Marin Resource Conservation District. But a few raised the same concerns that first came up last year.
Inverness resident Margo Wixsom called the sustainable agriculture allocation a “rancher entitlement program” siphoning money from a measure meant for parks. She said MALT and agriculturalists should support their own, separate tax measure. “This subsidy has no place in a public parks measure,” Ms. Wixsom said. “Please separate these measures.”
A speaker identified on Zoom as Radhika told the supervisors “parks are not farms,” and questioned the environmental merit of the stewardship and carbon farming practices championed by MALT and the R.C.D. “This is greenwashing to deflect from the reality of using public money for private interest,” she said.
Measure A was first passed in 2012, levying a quarter-cent sales tax reserved for parks, open space and farmland preservation. Polling shows the measure, which expires in March, is still popular, but a parks survey conducted last summer indicated shifting public opinions on how the funds should be spent.
Until now, 95 percent of the agricultural allocation—which is 20 percent of the measure’s total revenue—has gone to MALT as matching funds for easements that protect farmland from development. Between 2017 and 2019, the trust received almost $10 million in Measure A grants, the largest of which was a $1.8 million grant toward an easement on the Taylor ranch, home to Bivalve Dairy, in 2018. But in response to the survey, the parks department released a draft that cut that farmland preservation allocation in half, to 10 percent of the total revenue.
Mr. Korten said it took multiple efforts to fully gauge public opinion, and he acknowledged that the survey and one-on-one stakeholder meetings did not provide the full picture.
“The survey and the meetings were certainly not a science,” he said. “We’re trying to have an open engagement process, but there are a lot of people who are busy in their lives and don’t have the time to be engaged in local government.”
In the final expenditure plan slated for approval next week, the three broad spending categories—county parks and open space, agriculture and city parks—will retain the percentages allotted by the county when Measure A passed a decade ago. But within the allotments, there is evidence of changing priorities. The county parks category still represents 65 percent of the overall spending, but at least a quarter of that will now be devoted to fuel reduction. Last year’s survey showed wildfire prevention was a major priority for voters.
Land acquisition has been reduced to 10 percent of the allotment for county parks and open space, reflecting the amount the department has spent on new land. Though a few speakers raised concerns over this reduction, Bill Long, board chair of the Marin Open Space Trust, said it wouldn’t be a major obstacle.
“You might think that I’m concerned about the reduction in funding for acquisition,” Mr. Long said. “I am convinced that MOST, working with other organizations, can leverage the county money that is available.”
Aside from incorporating a new 50 percent limit on easement funding, the agriculture allocation quadruples the percentage that will go to the Marin R.C.D., up to 20 percent. The R.C.D. uses Measure A funds to secure matching grants, including a recent $1 million carbon farming grant from the California State Coastal Conservancy. R.C.D. executive director Nancy Scolari and board president Sally Gale told the supervisors they were pleased with the increased funding.
MALT is also happy with the new proposal, after the cuts proposed last November put the trust on the defensive. Acting C.E.O. Jennifer Carlin expressed total support for the new plan, including the increased funds for the R.C.D. “We think it’s a really strong and a really strategic compromise,” she said.
She said MALT’s advocacy and efforts by supporters had helped to reach a more favorable outcome for the trust, which played a major role in passing the original Measure A. “So many people came forward and responded to that original proposal, and so many of our partners were saying that we’re all in this together,” Ms. Carlin said.
Besides the 50 percent allowance for easements and the 20 percent pot for the R.C.D., the remaining 30 percent in the sustainable agriculture fund will be open to a diverse range of stewardship and restoration projects through a new grant program. Applicants could include Point Blue’s Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed, or STRAW, program and local community gardens supported by the University of California Cooperative Extension. The program could also benefit wildlife corridor projects on farmland.
“There’s a lot of new ways that we can be connected to the community,” Mr. Korten said.
The stewardship and restoration funding would also be open to MALT, which has shifted its own focus away from strictly purchasing easements. The structure of the stewardship grant program will be established by a separate public process.
The board will approve the final ordinance on Feb. 15, and the measure will appear on the June 7 primary ballot.